Cederick is one of the most Metal guys around. He is the driving force behind not one but two killer bands Rocka Rollas and Blazon Stone. If the band name sounds familiar it should, it was taken from the sixth Running Wild album.

When I started to write this review I promised myself that I would not mention Running Wild in this review, however that turned out to be futile. Blazon’s stones debut album RETURN TO PORT ROYAL is basically Running Wild. Even the spine of the CD says ‘Running wild Pirate Metal Worship’ the band is not afraid to hide it so why should I? Cederick, who handles all the, guitars, bass and drums has written the ultimate Running Wild album and he should be proud. Back to the presentation of the CD for a moment, the excellent Stormspell label released the album, and the packaging is gorgeous. They use a very thick, glossy paper giving the 12 page full-colour booklet a really nice look and feel. There are lyrics and a couple of photos and the whole album looks like a Running Wild album down to the song titles, lyrics and album cover. Even the album title is a deliberate nod to Running Wild’s fourth album PORT ROYAL.

What a return it is! If you are like many Running Wild fans who felt the 80’s and early to mid-90’d was the bands best work, you need to get this album. RETURN TO PORT ROYAL sound exactly the albums of the unparalleled run of seven flawless Running Wild albums from 1987-1995. It would not be out of place to suggest that Blazon Stone is doing what many of us hope Running Wild were still doing today.

Let’s assume for a moment you are one of the few Metal bands on the planet who has not heard Running Wild and have no idea what I’m talking about. RETURN TO PORT ROYAL is loaded to the gunnels with classic Germanic fist-pounding, head-banging anthems with tempos running from mid-pace to wild. All the lyrics are based in the golden age of piracy. The vocals of Erik are rough and raw and the riffs and thick and meaty. The production is raw and the songs are very catchy as well, easily memorable. The bands debut is virtually flawless.

In one sense, I’m not pleased with this review, it’s dull and uninspiring to compare a band to another, but in this case the Blazon Stone’s tribute to Running Wild is deliberate and calculated and has caught the other band broadside with all cannons blazing. The comparison is unavoidable. It seems for now as of time of writing, if you compare Running Wild’s 2013 album RESILENT and Blazon Stone’s RETURN TO PORT ROYAL, the apprentice has surpassed the master. As much as it pains me to say it, Running Wild drifts becalmed in the open seas while Blazon Stone rages and plunders the coast. Let’s just hope that in this mutiny for the captainship of pirate metal, Cederick doesn’t make Rock ‘N Rolf walk the plank.